During a “NBC Sunday Night Football” conference call last week, analyst Cris Collinsworth was asked to weigh in about how big an impact the playoff rematch Sunday between the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens will have on the upcoming NFL season.
“Yeah, it feels big, doesn’t it?” Collinsworth said. “You never want to overhype, whatever it may end up being, and it’s Week 1 of 17. But you never know. But there is no question that (quarterbacks) Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson have been two of the best players in the league. They’ve been the most recent MVPs. Their teams seem totally dependent on them, and they both are exciting in their approach to the game.
Buffalo Bills vs Baltimore Ravens (copy) (copy)
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen greets Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson after the AFC divisional playoff game on Jan. 19, 2025. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
“Lamar, a little bit more of the traditional read-option kind of stuff, whereas Josh is just sort of, ‘I don’t feel like throwing this one, let me go run over somebody and make it happen.’
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“We had them during (last year's) regular season, and Baltimore beat Buffalo pretty badly (35-10) in that one, just some big explosive plays starting with (running back) Derrick Henry. But I thought the playoff game (a 27-25 Bills victory) was much more of what we expected to see, even in that first game that we called.
"I mean, it was down to the wire. It was thrilling. The two quarterbacks were matching big blows in that game. I don’t know if there are two more exciting quarterbacks than those two guys, and to get them on the same field for opening night is pretty cool.”
Mike Tirico, the play-by-play announcer on Sunday's game and Thursday’s opening NBC game between defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia and Dallas, noted that the Bills were undefeated at home (during the regular season) last year.
“A large part of that is Josh, but a big part of it is that crowd, as well. No better place to start our march to Super Bowl LX and the 20th year of 'Sunday Night Football' than Philly and Buffalo. Just kind of makes you smile thinking about it … "
Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown will have a weekly segment with the 97 Rock morning team of (Ted) Shredd & (Tom) Ragan, starting with the first one at 8 a.m. Friday.
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